Power Play
by Loki Firefox
Summary: Drabble. Very AU. Blaine comes home late and Cooper tries to assert his authority. "Tries" being the operative word. Not a nice Blaine and a Cooper with a messed-up past.


_This scene just came to me. I don't quite remember what sparked it, it was for something else but I modified it for Blaine and Cooper. Obviously it is very AU, but I'd like to think that this is still Blaine and Cooper if they made slightly different choices, that in essence, these are still the same characters._

_Anyway, I wasn't going to post this since it's technically a drabble, but I've been convinced to do so by two lovely ladies: TheFauxMe and pukaroxliza. So here it is. I will preempt some of you by saying that while I do have a story for this I don't know if I'll get around to writing it soon as it's quite complicated (as this scene implies)._

_And for those of you who have been patiently waiting for a new chapter for _Something New_, I beg your indulgence. I'm currently still writing _Brand New Ground_. I won't be revisiting _Something New_ at least until I finish that project. Thank you again for your continued patronage._

-oOo-

Blaine Anderson was walking inside his family's cavernous house. His footsteps echoed on the marble floor as he headed towards the kitchen. He was deciding on whether to eat leftovers or actually try cooking something when he heard someone calling out his name as he passed by his father's study.

"Blaine? Is that you?"

Blaine repressed a sigh, for a brief second he considered pretending that he didn't hear it and just keep on walking but he was not one to run away. Instead of answering he just walked into the room. Standing behind his father's desk, his brother Cooper was going over a lot of papers. Blaine stood, seemingly patiently by the doorway, but inwardly he just wanted Cooper to get to the point so he can get started on dinner. He decided that he was definitely grabbing leftovers, he wanted to get into the sanctuary of his room as quickly as possible.

"Where have you been? It's past eight," Cooper's brows furrowed as he asked.

Before he could stop himself, one of Blaine's eyebrows rose in an uncharacteristic show of surprise. He was peeved. _Now he's acting concerned? _He thought. _Where the hell did he get the idea that he gets to play the responsible parent card?_

"Well," he started in a bored tone, "I cut class about an hour before lunch and sneaked behind the gym where I bought drugs from Mike Sugi. I then went to the old quarry where I got high, I don't know for how long since I was, well, high. I then walked to the 7-11 on Wilshire where I tried to buy vodka but the store owner wouldn't sell it to me, I guess I shouldn't have tried it while wearing my uniform. So I knocked over a counter and in the ruckus grabbed the first bottle within reach. It was peach schnapps. I ran out to the construction area on Brodie and drank until I puked. I passed out and just woke up. I headed home and here I am."

Blaine felt bitter amusement when he saw Cooper's expression cycle from shock to worry to anger. Cooper then closed his eyes and Blaine assumed he was counting to ten or something.

"What the hell, Blaine?" Cooper finally asked, his eyes snapping open. "Where did that come from? I just asked you where you were, I was worried!"

"Why?"

"What? What do you mean 'why'?"

"Why were you worried?" Blaine asked tilting his head slightly to the side, his tone genuinely curious, if flat and cold.

"Because you're my brother and you were out late! Why do you think?"

Blaine looked intently at his brother before he answered. "I have never given anyone a reason to worry. I have maintained a 4.0 GPA for the last three years. The only times I've ever been called into the headmaster's office were either for getting a commendation or because I was going to be entrusted with some responsibility. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, hell, I don't even smoke. That was you."

Cooper actually took a step back as if he was slapped but Blaine went on, uncaring. "While you were away either coked up or sweating it out in rehab and Father was on one of his many, many business trips and Mother was either on another bender or in the hospital for 'exhaustion' I was taking care of myself. Somehow without parental supervision I managed to stay in school and avoid trouble, something that was apparently an alien notion to you when you were my age. When our parents died, I was on my own for four months before you showed up. I managed the fallout of their deaths—talking with the lawyers, the insurance company, the wake and the funeral—and my other responsibilities without going to pieces. So for you to be worried about me—when you barely have your own life together—is, frankly, rather insulting."

Blaine turned around and was about to leave when Cooper spoke up. "Now wait just one minute! I agree I may have been a mess but you don't get to talk to me like that!"

Blaine turned back in time to see his brother walking up to him, Cooper's face red with anger. "You may not like me, fine. But I deserve some respect and as long as you live in this house we are going to have some rules that we both will live by, okay? I'm responsible for you whether you like it or not and we're going to have to live with each other!"

Blaine's eyes narrowed and Cooper was forcibly reminded of their father and felt like he was a teenager again, caught doing something wrong.

"No."

"What?"

"No," Blaine repeated. "I disagree with you." Cooper opened his mouth but Blaine decided to plow on so he could get to his point and then his dinner and finally the quiet of his room. "First of all you don't get my respect as you have yet to earn it. Whatever respect you should have had as my older brother was used up exactly four years ago when you stole my things to pay for your drugs. Second, you aren't responsible for me, you are accountable for me, there is a difference. I've been responsible for myself for years and I wouldn't trust you to watch over me if I was sick with the bubonic plague. I'm sixteen. In two years I'll reach my majority but in about a year I'll be going away to university anyway so save yourself the trouble of trying to be the responsible adult. You'll just be wasting both our times and embarrassing yourself.

"But you are right about one thing. We do have to have some rules to live by. Here they are: you stay out of my business and I will stay out of yours. We'll be like two ships passing in the night, God knows this house is big enough. You can ask me how I am and how school was and I'll answer that I'm fine and that school was okay. Unless you actually have some evidence to the contrary you will accept what I say and leave it at that. I will from now on let you know if I will be making it for dinner or not. If I don't, assume it's because I have something important to do. I may or may not ask you how you are. If I do ask, please answer that you are fine, if not I will assume it's drug-related and I will call the rehab clinic or the police depending on the situation."

Blaine then walked away towards the kitchen, leaving his brother open-mouthed behind him. He decided on a sandwich after all when he saw that the leftovers would require a bit more work than just nuking it to make it palatable. He managed to put together a decent sandwich before Cooper finally joined him in the kitchen. He seemed to have composed himself but Blaine noticed how white Cooper's knuckles were on the kitchen counter as he leaned on it.

"I know I made some bad choices. I'll even acknowledge that you seem to have a better handle on things than I ever did at your age. But you know what? Whatever that was is past. We're dealing with the present now. In the present, I'm the adult and I _am_ responsible for you. I may only be responsible for you for two years but for those two years you will have me. So here is how things are going to be: I will stay out of your business unless I have reason to believe that I should get involved. When I ask you how you are or how school is going, you will answer with the truth. If I want to dig deeper, I will. You will be civil and unless you actually see me drunk or high, you will _not_ be making any phone calls to the rehab clinic or the police. You will be home for dinner and if you can't make it, you will have to explain why to my satisfaction. You will have a curfew that is to be determined and if I feel like grounding you for breaking any of these rules, I will and what's more you will abide by my decisions. You may be the more responsible one, Blaine, but until you do hit that majority _I_ am in charge. I can ground you or I can cut you off from your allowance."

Cooper seemed to relax as Blaine let him finish his speech without interruption. When he was done he was almost calm. Blaine put the finishing touches on his sandwich and grabbed a bottle of coke from the refrigerator. He finally looked at his brother and Cooper's heart stopped when he saw the coldness in Blaine's eyes.

"You won't be doing that. It was a great speech until right at the end. You made good points that was hard to argue, but you should have stopped at the grounding. Here's the thing, if you touch my allowance, I will inform Jerome Miller—remember him? The family lawyer? You should, I think he bailed you out of every jail east of the Rockies. You do that and I'll tell Jerome that you are trying to cut me off from my inheritance. I will sue for emancipation and I will have him remove you as my guardian for incompetence. With your record they'll assume you want to use my money to buy drugs, we won't even have to imply it. Even if you challenge it, by the time you get anywhere I'll either be away in college or I'll be eighteen so the whole thing will be rather pointless."

Blaine grabbed his bag on his way out of the kitchen. "I think we'll stick to my plan. Good night."


End file.
